After suffering a 26-point blowout loss to Florida in Gainesville on January 25th, the Vols’ matchup against the No. 3 Gators in Knoxville was expected to be a much different, much closer game. And it was. For a while.
But in the end, the Vols (16-9, 6-5 ) were unable to capitalize on opportunities and came up on the short end of a 67-58 final score. The win is Florida’s 16th straight this season.
A year ago, Tennessee pulled off the 64-58 upset against then No. 8 Florida in Knoxville. A similar outcome this season would have been a tremendous boost to the Vols’ NCAA tournament hopes, but the loss wasn’t fatal.
Moving forward, Tennessee needs more wins on its tournament resume.
“For us it is one game at a time,” Cuonzo Martin said after the game. “That is all you can control.”
Jarnell Stokes played with passion and energy, leading Tennessee with 20 points and 11 rebounds. It was his 14th double-double of the season. Jordan McRae finished with 17 and Josh Richardson added 13. No other Vols scored in double-figures.
Vol shooters came out smoking, hitting 63% from the field in the first half. But that changed in the second half against Florida’s stingy defense as Tennessee managed just seven field goals on 29% shooting.
“I thought it was a tremendous environment,” Martin said. “I thought the fans were great. It was tough. You have to take care of the basketball.”
The Gators are a projected No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and they played like it down the stretch.
Tennessee will travel to Missouri to take on the Tigers this Saturday in a game which will be televised by ESPN2.